Friday, January 2, 2009

We have lived in Brevard County for 14 months now and not one time have we gone to the Brevard Zoo. Autumn wanted to spend the weekend with Meema wo we brought her home with us and on December 26th along with just about the entire population and all foreign visitors to Brevard County we went to the Brevard Zoo, it truly is a beautiful little Zoo and the kids had a great time. Now mind you when I say we went, I mean I myself only me took Joel in his wheelchair and Autumn and Hope. I really am not sure if I got up that morning and instead of taking a bloodpressure medication I took a loco pill or what, but we did have a great time and the proof is in the video. Joel, kept saying what a great day Mom, what a great day. Then I took them grocery shopping with me to Super Target and all the Christmas Decorations were on sale 50% off. Autumn, Kya, Joel and Hope now have new nutcrackers for next Christmas, nope not as gifts they have them now and they get to view them for a week until time to wrap and put them away until next Christmas.

Christmas Morning Awake Ole' Eyes that I might see...the little eyes are abounding with such anxious anticipation too see what might be under that tree in the livingroom. The Glee, The Joy, The Happiness, that's what just a few wrapped packages brought to Joel and Hope and those shouts brought The Glee, The Joy and The Happiness to Mom. I love watching Christmas through their eyes, it didn't matter what they got, it could have been a plastic baggy with rubber bands and little Hope would have jumpped up and down and said YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We then jumped in the car and headed to big sister Dawn's and shared the rest of the day with Jei-Jei, Dale, Kya, Autumn, Aaron and Lily. We had the biggest and best Christmas. Biggest because there were soooooooooooooo many of us this year.

I can't believe it was only a few Christmases ago and John and I would spend Christmas Eve going to 3 services at church singing in the choir at all of them then going to Dawn's early on Christmas Morn and there would only be 4 of us to spend the day together and this year in 4 short years there was 10 of us, how the Lord has multiplied our Blessings.

Around December 20th I was on one of the yahoo groups I have belonged to for about 2 years, and just casually scan through it, since we have been home with our children from China for over a year now. Something on one of the post caught my eye and even made me want to check out this families blog site. When I got there, I discovered they were a wonderful Christian family and had adopted from Guizhou where Hope is from. Their little girl is Madi and she has been home about 9 months, not only is Madi from the province of Guizhou she is from Hope's orphanage which is extremely rare as this orphanage is so small. My Christmas Miracle, it may not be the miracle of receiving sight, or a pair of new legs, but for this Mom's heart it was a Christmas Gift of a Miracle of the Heart.

You see today, January 2, 2007 I was getting ready to board a plan in Beijing China for Guizhou to go and get my sweet little girl and one of the coldest and bitterest winters ever to hit China blew in while we were there, it was 17 below zero that day and when we got to Guizho and on January 3rd received Hope they would not allow us to travel to her orphanage. It was a 3 hour drive over very rough terrain. I remember leaving Guizhou and the Guangzhou with a very sad heart for Hope, we did not receive anything from the orphanage to present to Hope when she is older as a reminder of her life or where she had lived or who she was, there was nothing but a finding add that I personally had sent off for during our adoption journey waiting time.

I did not know if Hope had been happy the two years she lived at the orphanage, if she was well treated, I had no knowledge of any of this. She was clean when she was brought to us and with only the clothes on her back nothing more. She didn't cry when she was left and she was handed to me by the Assistant Director and was interpreted by our guide and told this is now Mama and Baba, she didn't cry, she didn't smile, she just stared at us. We met with him in a private room for about 2 hours and he answered questions for us and then he left. We met the next day and signed all the papers for Hope's adoption and she was our sweet little girl forever. Now why should this matter to me so very much, Hope is profoundly deaf both ears. She was abandoned at a city park in the same town where her orphanage is located at the age of 2 1/2, she then lived another 2 years in her orphanage. I just did not know how she was taking all of this in, she had no way of communicating this to anyone, she had no communication skills at all. She would cry when she wanted or needed something and then smile or laugh when she received it. We began immediately giving her ASL signs to communicate with us and she was a happy thing, runnnig, laughing, smiling and playing. But, was this normal there wasn't sadness - my heart was hurting...for two years now I have wondered what has gone on in her little mind and what her life was like in the orphanage.

Then just a couple of weeks ago I was given that GIFT, that MIRACLE, when I went to Tammy's blogsite, they traveled to Hope's orphanage and took photos. When I saw them I was amazed at the size, how very small. I had visited other orphanages and had been to China three times. When Hope came home from school, I sat her on my lap and showed her the photos and she remembered the orphanage, she remembered her bed, the 2 story white house (apparently it is used to house foster families for a short time), she remembered the director and assistant directior calling the director Ja, and she was estatic, it was a happy memory for her. Tammy has agreed I could include some of those photos that Hope remembered on this blogsite and I am also going to include Hope and her signing as she saw those photos one photo in particular is one of our update photos of Hope as we were waiting to travel and Hope is on one of the little outside sliders and she remembered where it was and could describe the house and the buildings on both sides of that house to me completely. Hope has a memory that is unreal. Please feel free to visit Tammy's blogsite and share in the powerful prayer her husband shared with Director Chen http://enjoyingourjourney.blogspot.com/ Thank you so much Tammy for sharing this gift with myself and with Hope. The scripture verse that you quote on your blogsite For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:10-12 is also the scripture promise the Lord gave us when He gave us the heart to begin the journey of adoption.

About Me

I would like to invite you to journey with our family through life. Sometimes we stumble and sometimes we seem to soar, but always we know that God is right there with us. He is the one that began this family of FOUR and it is an amazing journey. My name is Pat and I am married to the most GENTLE man named John our son is Joel named after my Grandfather, who was named after the Prophet Joel in the Bible and our daughter Hope named after Jeremiah 29:11.